Weird facial treatments are nothing new, according to a video posted on Buzzfeed.com, but they are kind of gross.
Some of the ingredients might make sense. Seaweed masks used by the ancient Greeks probably aren’t all that different from kelp facials today.
But other, stranger treatments include bee venom, baby food, leeches, and kitty litter, many of which are used today.
As for strange treatments of history, people in the Middle Ages believed that licking an amethyst and rubbing it on the face would clear up one’s complexion.
Perhaps the ickiest treatment of all, though, came from Japan, where women used the droppings of a particular type of bird to clear up their skin. Yes, that’s right: bird poo facials — and they’re still used today on the Japanese island of Kyushu.
The video was sponsored by Avon and features a pretty, yet pretty grossed out, model getting all kinds of substances flung at her flawless skin. At least they didn’t treat her with sheep placenta or infant foreskin stem cell facials, which are also popular today.
Facials are just one treatment that many people, especially women, rely on for youthful looking skin. They can also provide sun damage repair and reduce scars left by acne, which is the most common skin disorder in the U.S. and affects between 40 and 50 million Americans.
The alleged anti-aging properties of facial treatments tend to be the main reason why so many seek them out. Some people are even willing to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to have great skin.
One very extravagant treatment, according to Fortune, is by L.Raphael. For a mere $1,100 per treatment, patients can be pampered with the Oxy-Star Anti-Pigmentation Treatment, which includes rare white truffles and a high-speed jet stream to reduce pigmentation in their skin.
That’s probably not the weirdest luxury facial, though.
On Kourtney and Kim Take Miami, Kim Kardashian subjected herself to a painful facial treatment known as the “Vampire Facial,” which made her look more like she was in a horror film than at the spa.
The platelet rich plasma (PRP) injection that Kim K got actually involved taking blood from her arm and setting the sample in a centrifuge to separate blood from plasma. The blood is then injected onto the face for a truly gory skin rejuvenation that runs for around $600 per treatment.
Does it work, though? On the show, Kim said that she thought her skin looked better.
Kourtney’s response? A simple “No.”